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Lot Essay
The impressive sunlit church on the right of the present picture dominates the composition with all it's intricate detailing and wide range of architectural elements. A church service has just finished with a crowd lit by the rays of the early morning sunlight leaving the church through one of the main sideportals. On the left side of the painting, a steet is filled with numerous townfolk going about their activities on marketday in a typical Dutch town.
The topography of the painting can not be identified which is characteristic of Springer's work of 1850, the year in which the work was executed. Cornelis Springer was a prolific painter of romantic town views with a keen eye for architectural detail. Up to the mid 1850's he specialised in painting fantasy townviews following in the footsteps of his teacher Karsparus Karsen (1810-1896) from whom he had received lessons between 1835 and 1837. Karsen initially inspired Springer to paint fantasy town views which followed the contemporary trend of idealising the past and recreating a national heritage.
Springer was also influenced by the Dutch 17th and 18th Century town view painters such as Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712), Gerrit Berckheyde (1638-1698) and Isaac Ouwater (1750-1793), although his predecessors focused on painting townscapes with topographical precision. Springer combined existing church walls, doorways, shops, squares and rows of houses into imaginary scenes. The capriccio church-facade on the right has clearly been beautified and completed with elements which the artist had found in other buildings.
Springer was brought up in a family of architects and building contractors in Amsterdam and he expressed an intererst in painting at an early age. His brother the architect Hendrik Springer (1805-1867) taught him the techniques of architectural drawing and the principles of perspective, which were to have a lasting influence on him. The young Springer decided to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam under Jacobus van der Stok (1795-1874) and Herman Frederik Carel Ten Kate (1822-1891). It soon became clear that he was unusually talented and a landscape study depicting a polder near Osdorp which he made at the age of 17, was selected to be presented at the Tentoonstelling van Levende Meesters in Amsterdam in 1834. Ironically his first exhibited picture was a landscape, even though he would specialise in townviews.
Recognition for his work soon came, being awarded a silver medal in 1843 and a gold medal in 1847. In 1850 he becomes an honoury member of the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and from that period Springer had attained such renown that he only worked on commission for private collectors and art dealers. A waiting list of two years in this period was testimony to the great popularity of his work.
From the early 1850's onwards, Springer sometimes abandoned the fantasy element in his work and concentrated on existing locations, following an increasing interest in topographical accuracy from collectors at the time. Even though the composition of the present painting is fantasized, it does give a wonderful impression of everyday life in an unspoiled Dutch city and leaves the spectator with a strong nostalgic sense of the 19th Century. The masterful detailing and superb play of light and shadow within the different architectural elements make this painting a milestone within the artists oeuvre.
The topography of the painting can not be identified which is characteristic of Springer's work of 1850, the year in which the work was executed. Cornelis Springer was a prolific painter of romantic town views with a keen eye for architectural detail. Up to the mid 1850's he specialised in painting fantasy townviews following in the footsteps of his teacher Karsparus Karsen (1810-1896) from whom he had received lessons between 1835 and 1837. Karsen initially inspired Springer to paint fantasy town views which followed the contemporary trend of idealising the past and recreating a national heritage.
Springer was also influenced by the Dutch 17th and 18th Century town view painters such as Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712), Gerrit Berckheyde (1638-1698) and Isaac Ouwater (1750-1793), although his predecessors focused on painting townscapes with topographical precision. Springer combined existing church walls, doorways, shops, squares and rows of houses into imaginary scenes. The capriccio church-facade on the right has clearly been beautified and completed with elements which the artist had found in other buildings.
Springer was brought up in a family of architects and building contractors in Amsterdam and he expressed an intererst in painting at an early age. His brother the architect Hendrik Springer (1805-1867) taught him the techniques of architectural drawing and the principles of perspective, which were to have a lasting influence on him. The young Springer decided to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam under Jacobus van der Stok (1795-1874) and Herman Frederik Carel Ten Kate (1822-1891). It soon became clear that he was unusually talented and a landscape study depicting a polder near Osdorp which he made at the age of 17, was selected to be presented at the Tentoonstelling van Levende Meesters in Amsterdam in 1834. Ironically his first exhibited picture was a landscape, even though he would specialise in townviews.
Recognition for his work soon came, being awarded a silver medal in 1843 and a gold medal in 1847. In 1850 he becomes an honoury member of the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and from that period Springer had attained such renown that he only worked on commission for private collectors and art dealers. A waiting list of two years in this period was testimony to the great popularity of his work.
From the early 1850's onwards, Springer sometimes abandoned the fantasy element in his work and concentrated on existing locations, following an increasing interest in topographical accuracy from collectors at the time. Even though the composition of the present painting is fantasized, it does give a wonderful impression of everyday life in an unspoiled Dutch city and leaves the spectator with a strong nostalgic sense of the 19th Century. The masterful detailing and superb play of light and shadow within the different architectural elements make this painting a milestone within the artists oeuvre.